Ramanujan Auditorium

Geometric models of cell fate specification

Archishman Raju

NCBS Bengaluru

Cell fate decisions emerge as a consequence of a complex set of gene regulatory networks. Detailed models of these networks are known to
suffer from over-parameterization. We will describe recent work
formalizing an alternative approach first presented by Waddington, which
likens differentiation of different cell types to flow through a
landscape in which valleys represent alternative fates. This allows the
construction of minimally parameterized models consistent with cell
behaviour. We will describe how this construction leads to intuitive
models that are well adapted to biological data. We will also describe
how to think about models of spatial pattern formation in a geometric
manner. This leads to a more unified description of cell fate
specification and we will end with some remarks on differences and
similarities with universality in physics.